[wideawake]

I don’t think it is an accident that the fascist and communist dictatorships arose in the nations with the top down, hierarchical religious tradition of Catholicism and Orthodoxy — nor is the tradition of Protestant Christianity an accidental correlation to protection of individual rights.

Hilariously prejudiced analysis, considering that the first modern fascist dictatorship was that of "Lord Protector" Oliver Cromwell - a radical Protestant zealot.

[GoLightly]

Hilariously prejudiced analysis, considering that the first modern fascist dictatorship was that of "Lord Protector" Oliver Cromwell - a radical Protestant zealot.

I agree, it was prejudiced. What's the difference between a "modern fascist dictatorship" & a brutally held monarchy?

[Greg F]

I don’t know the Cromwell history very well at all, but I know he is still controversial. Some see him as a hero of liberty, some as a dictator.

Can you deny that the fascist and communist dictatorships, with the exception of China, arose in Catholic lands? I think there is a correlation between religious beliefs and political form.

[hellbender]

Protestants like the Puritans had been oppressed in England for years. (That's why the Pilgrims & many Puritans came over here.) Protestants in France were subjected to what amounts to genocide. What goes around comes around.

Also, it is an incontrovertible fact that the rule of law, individual rights, economic freedom, and limited government all grew up only in Protestant England (and its colonies). Catholic countries have almost never had stable elected governments for any length of time. When you have a govt.-established monopoly, like the RC Church in places like Italy, Spain, and France, corruption of the church is inevitable.